Inauguration Day- January 14, 2012: The WIC State Office in Jefferson City will be closed for the Governor’s Inauguration Day on January 14. However, there will be WIC help desk coverage from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and the district offices outside of Jefferson City will be open. Formula approval calls should be directed to Mark Wright, Mark.Wright@health.mo.gov or 660-385-2633. Other calls should be directed to the WIC Help Desk at 800-554-2544.
If you have questions, please contact Mark Davis at Mark.Davis@health.mo.gov or 573-526-5323 or 800-392-8209.

State Holidays in January and February 2013: The WIC State Office in Jefferson City will be closed but there will be limited WIC help desk coverage from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21; Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12; and Presidents’ Day, February 18.

REMINDER: WIC Help Desk Meeting: This is a reminder that there will be no WIC Help Desk coverage on Friday, January 18, 2013, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. Although staff will not be available during these hours, feel free to leave a message and all calls will be returned as soon as possible. The purpose of these meetings is to review processes and procedures in order to provide the highest quality customer service to local agencies and WIC participants.

Mandatory Training: Revised Nutrition Assessment (VENA) and Revised Risk Criteria: This mandatory training will be provided through a pre-recorded webinar which will be available Spring 2013. The purpose of the training is to provide the certifying staff (WIC Certifier, CPA/Nutritionist) with information on the revised risk factors and to introduce the new layout of the Nutrition Assessment (VENA) tab and forms. The following provides MOWINS release overview:

The revised Nutrition Assessment tab will have added functionality which will allow documentation in the system by selecting check boxes, radio buttons and/or free flow text fields, etc.

Dietary Risk Factors 411, 425 or 427 may be auto assigned by the system based upon responses selected in the Nutrition Assessment tab.

There will be hard copy Nutrition Assessment forms; however, there will be no scanning of the Nutrition Assessment forms in the system.

More information about this required training will be provided in the weeks to come. If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact D'Anne Ward at 800-392-8209 or email Danne.Ward@health.mo.gov.

“Using Loving Support to Grow and Glow in WIC” Training: Due to a large number of staff needing to attend this training in the Kansas City area, we have scheduled a training at the Clay County Health Department on June 26 & 27, 2013. To register for this training, please use the attached registration form and email to Reba Brown at Reba.Brown@health.mo.gov.

Please remember that all new WIC agency staff are required to attend this training. Nutritionist and CPAs must attend both days of training and all other staff (WIC Coordinators, WIC Clerks, HPAs, Certifiers, etc.) need only attend the first day, with the second day being optional. For more information on this training please go to: http://health.mo.gov/living/families/wic/wiclwp/training-localwic_staff.php or contact Kathy Mertzlufft at 573-526-4792 or by email at Kathy.Mertzlufft@health.mo.gov for more information. (ONE ATTACHMENT)

Data Quality: Please help improve our Missouri WIC data quality! Epidemiologists at DHSS “clean up” the MOWINS data to provide us with data reports that are used to provide information to USDA, populate the MICA data, conduct studies, and use in many other ways. Erroneous data due to incorrect information entered into the system is a problem. Tips for improving data quality are:

You may contact the health program representative or nutritionist assigned to provide technical assistance to your agency if you have questions.

Schedule of Caseload Participation Adjustments for FFY2013: Each Local WIC Provider agency starts the new Federal Fiscal Year with an annual projected participation count established in its approved Local Agency Plan. Adjustments to the projected annual participation count used to set the participation sensitive portion of the annual budget in the WIC Invoicing system are made in accordance with Section 4.0 of the Scope of Work for the WIC: Local Agency Nutrition Services contract.

For Federal Fiscal Year 2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013) the schedule of revisions to LWP projected annual participation shall be as follows:

1st Quarter adjustments - week of February 11;

2nd Quarter adjustments - week of May 13;

3rd Quarter adjustments - week of August 12:

4th Quarter adjustments - during the week of October 1 all agencies will be adjusted to the participation count served YTD through the September preliminary count;

Final adjustment - November 1 and 4 all agencies will be adjusted to their final participation count for FFY2013.

Please contact your TA staff member if you have any questions.

WIC Positions

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Nutritionist III - DHSS Eastern District State WIC Office: The Bureau of WIC and Nutrition Services has an opening for a Nutritionist III in the Eastern District State WIC Office. Responsibilities include providing technical assistance to local WIC providers, contract monitoring, policy review and revision, special formula approvals, applying health data in program planning, and occasionally acting as a preceptor for dietetic interns. Excellent customer service, written and verbal communication, teamwork, confidentiality and prioritization are required skills. A registered dietitian, licensed in Missouri, is preferred. Submit cover letter and resume to Rita Arni at Rita.Arni@health.mo.govby January 15, 2013. AA/EOE

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Nutritionist/Dietitian-Grace Hill Health Centers, Inc. has an immediate opening for a full time Nutritionist in the WIC program. The candidate must have graduated from an accredited four- year college or university with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nutrition, Dietetics, Home Economic, or closely related field; including or supplemented by at least fifteen(15) semester hours in Food and Nutrition including Diet Therapy and Community Nutrition. The selected candidate will provide nutrition education to WIC eligible participants and assess their nutritional needs for certification eligibility. Send resume to Acey J. Staples, at Grace Hill Health Centers, 1717 Biddle St. St. Louis, Mo. 63106 or e-mail to AceyS@gracehill.org. WIC is an equal opportunity employer.